Liversedge

Liversedge comprises several settlements that are all distinctive. Norristhorpe clings to one side of the Spen Valley, looking over the town of Heckmondwike. Roberttown is on the opposite side of the A62. Millbridge is the geographical centre of Liversedge and, with the neighbouring village of Flush, is the place the mills of the woollen industry stood. Towards Cleckheaton are Hightown, Littletown and Popeley Hill.

Liversedge has a Wakefield postcode (WF15). Some areas have a Wakefield dialling code (01924) while others have a Bradford dialling code (01274).

Christ Church, Liversedge

Liversedge is recorded in the Domesday Book as Livresec, a manor belonging to Radulf, a vassal of Ilbert de Lacy. There are two possible etymologies for the name: from the Old English Lēofheres-ecg meaning 'a ridge or edge belonging to Lēofhere';[3][4][5] or, alternatively, the first element could have originally been *Lēfer-, related to the Old English word lifer used in the sense of 'thick clotted water', and the second element secg, 'a bed of reeds or rushes'.[5]

In the 15th century, the lord of the manor was a member of the Neville family and Liversedge was already involved in woollen manufacture. The trade grew and by the 19th century the town was busy in the manufacture of woollen goods. In 1812 the town was the scene of a Luddite attack[6] on Rawfold's Mill when approximately two hundred armed weavers, croppers and other artisans attempted to destroy cropping frames at a mill operated by William Cartwright. Two Luddites were killed and some were injured by four soldiers and armed workmen defending the mill, with no losses on Cartwright's side.[7] In 2012, Sparrow Park was constructed outside the former town hall at the top of Knowler Hill in commemoration of the 200th anniversary of the uprising, which began just up the road from the monument in the still-operational "Shears" pub.[8]

Liversedge has a church that was built at the time of the Battle of Waterloo. Healds Hall, formerly the Spenborough Museum, is now a hotel. In the days of Charlotte Brontë it was home to Hammond Roberson whom she transformed into the Reverend Matthewman Helstone in her novel Shirley.

Spen Beck runs through Liversedge.

There is only one road sign in the whole area directing motorists towards Liversedge: on the A649 Halifax Road from Bailiff Bridge, with no directions from either the Huddersfield or Dewsbury and Batley sides of the settlement.

Politically, for Kirklees Council, the Leeds/Huddersfield Road acts as a boundary between electoral wards. Roberttown, Hightown and Littletown are within the Liversedge and Gomersal ward, while Norristhorpe and Flush are part of the Heckmondwike ward.

• Ken Mackintosh (1919–2005), bandleader; accompanied the likes of Tom Jones and Shirley Bassey on stage. Among his fans was the late Queen mother, Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, for whom he played twice at Windsor Castle.
• John Fozard (1928–96), aeronautical engineer who helped design the Hawker Siddeley Harrier.
• Norman Field (b. 1939), English rugby league footballer who played in the 1950s and 1960s.
• Angus Pollock (b. 1962), cricketer
• The Burgess brothers; Sam (b. 1988), Luke (b. 1987), Tom (b. 1992) and George (b. 1992); rugby league players

• Listed buildings in Liversedge and Gomersal

• Thompson, E.P. (1968). The Making of the English Working Class. Pelican Books.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Liversedge.

• Liversedge Central railway station
• Liversedge Spen railway station
• Liversedge railway tickets